title: Cochlear implant in Hong Kong Cantonese.
abstract: Cochlear implant surgery was performed in four Cantonese-speaking postlingually deaf Chinese adults, using the House/3M single channel device. This article outlines the methodology, including preoperative assessment and postoperative rehabilitation; and explains the necessary modifications in speech and audiologic work-up in Cantonese-speaking patients. Salient features of Cantonese phonetics, especially its tonal characteristics, are described. The findings of the study are presented. The results of the cochlear implant would suggest a performance superior to that of the hearing aid. Furthermore, the cochlear implant is able to detect tonal cues. This quality of the cochlear implant may prove to be a valuable asset to a tonal language-speaking cochlear implantee.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Luk
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Yiu
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Kwok
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013065:Speech Intelligibility